Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0206061 (interstitial pneumonia)
 6,105 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was used to determine the presence of Epstein-Barr virus sequences in seven cases of pulmonary lymphoid interstitial pneumonia not associated with HIV infection. Evidence of Epstein-Barr virus genome was found in three of six cases in which beta-globin gene, used as an internal control for the integrity and amplifiability of the tissue DNA, could be detected. These results suggest that Epstein-Barr virus infection is not always required for the development of lymphoid interstitial pneumonia.
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PMID:Lymphoid interstitial pneumonia not associated with HIV infection: role of Epstein-Barr virus. 134 10

The authors developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure to detect cytomegalovirus (CMV) in archived, frozen lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid preparations. The procedure incorporated an internal beta-globin control to assess the adequacy of the sample. Twenty-nine lung tissue and 96 archived BAL specimens from marrow transplant recipients were tested. One of the lung tissue specimens and 46 of the BAL specimens had insufficient tissue for PCR analysis because they did not show a beta-globin band. In lung tissue, the PCR had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 89% compared with conventional tube culture. In BAL specimens, the PCR had a sensitivity of 87% and specificity of 90% compared with conventional tube culture or centrifugation culture. Provided tissue was sufficient, the results suggest that the PCR can be used to diagnose CMV interstitial pneumonia effectively from frozen specimens of lung tissue or BAL fluid.
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PMID:Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus pneumonia by the polymerase chain reaction with archived frozen lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. 821 36

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is the only treatment currently available which can cure thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia. However, it is not without risk and the complications of graft failure, GVHD, veno-occlusive disease, interstitial pneumonitis and infections, together with the toxicity of the conditioning therapy result in a transplant-related mortality in children of 10-20%. For the survivors, long-term sequelae include chronic GVHD, endocrinopathies and an increased incidence of secondary malignancies. The decision to offer BMT to a patient with a haemoglobinopathy must be based on a knowledge of the relative risks of transplant and conventional therapy. However, in sickle cell anaemia, a subset of patients with particularly severe disease can be identified at an early age when the risks associated with BMT are at their lowest. In thalassaemia, chelation therapy can delay the onset of organ damage due to hypertransfusion but is unlikely to prevent it entirely. The results of BMT in children without organ impairment are excellent and BMT must now be considered a real alternative to conventional treatment. Gene therapy is an exciting prospect for the future but recent progress in retroviral gene transfer has been hindered by poor infection efficiencies and expression levels in the target cells. The identification of the positive regulatory elements of both the alpha- and beta-globin genes may resolve some of these problems. Finally, alternative gene delivery systems are being investigated, but the introduction of gene therapy for the haemoglobinopathies into clinical practice may need to await successful gene targeting and replacement.
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PMID:Bone marrow transplant for the haemoglobinopathies: past, present and future. 835 16